{"id":10566,"date":"2022-04-19T18:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ingenuitys-record-breaking-year-transforms-mars-exploration\/"},"modified":"2022-04-19T18:00:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T10:00:20","slug":"ingenuitys-record-breaking-year-transforms-mars-exploration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ingenuitys-record-breaking-year-transforms-mars-exploration\/","title":{"rendered":"Ingenuity\u2019s record-breaking year transforms Mars exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Credit: NASA\u2019s Ingenuity helicopter imaged by the zoomable Mastcam-Z camera on the Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first-ever powered flights over another planet have proved a resounding success for NASA\u2019s JPL team, which is celebrating Ingenuity\u2019s 12-month anniversary of its first helicopter hop on Mars Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Some 25 flights later, the Ingenuity helicopter \u2014 which hitched a ride to Mars on NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover \u2014 is going from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to Spaceflight Now, Jaakko Karras, Ingenuity chief engineer at NASA\u2019s JPL, Pasadena, California, said: \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting milestone and Ingenuity really has exceeded all our best expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here commemorating the anniversary of the first flight but, even prior to the first flight, just deploying safely onto the surface of Mars was a huge, huge moment for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingenuity\u2019s historic first flight proved a modest beginning, a mere 10 foot high hover over the Martian surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point in the demo we would have considered ourselves lucky to get a full five flights to complete the tech phase,\u201d said Jaakko. \u201cSo a big highlight of the past year was getting the five flights of the demo phase under our belt and still being healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the extension we got to transition from tech demo to operations demo and in that operations phase we were able to actually fly along with the Perseverance rover and scout out terrain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been a huge accomplishment for us because the whole Mars helicopter concept really began with that vision, demonstrating air mobility so that it can be used as a scout. We never expected to be able to play that out because just demonstrating the feasibility of flight was really the main goal and an incredible achievement in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingenuity completed its technology demonstration phase after three successful flights. For the first one on April 19, 2021, it took off, climbed to about 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, hovered briefly, completed a turn, and then landed. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was a major milestone: the very first powered, controlled flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars, and, in fact, the first such flight in any world beyond Earth. After that, the helicopter successfully performed additional experimental flights of incrementally further distance and greater altitude.<\/p>\n

The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) Ingenuity notched up it 25th flight over the red planet on April 8, setting new personal bests for speed and distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jaakko Karras, chief engineer for NASA\u2019s Ingenuity helicopter. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve flown 25 flights over all kinds of different terrain and now through different Martian seasons,\u201d added Jaakko, who has been a member of the helicopter operations team at JPL since its first launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy highlight has undoubtedly been the versatility and adaptability of both the vehicle and the team to allow the vehicle to do all these things that it was never designed for, never intended for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingenuity\u2019s 25th and most ambitious flight to date proved another record-breaker. The helicopter broke its distance and ground speed records, traveling 2,310 feet (704 meters), flying for a total of 161.3 seconds at a speed of 12 mph.<\/p>\n

Previously, the helicopter had only reached speeds of about 11 mph and flew just over 2,000 feet, though it did stay in the air for 169.5 seconds last August.  <\/span><\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s car-sized Perseverance rover, which landed inside the Mars\u2019 Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, is tasked with searching for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet and collecting dozens of samples for future return to Earth. The rover is currently heading to a river delta area within the crater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intended to get there with Ingenuity slightly ahead of the rover, but as these things go, it turned out that there were various challenges in crossing the seas, and the natural terrain there was a little bit more challenging then we\u2019d hoped for,\u201d Jaakko explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we had to re-plan the flights a little, and take some time here and there to reassess, but we\u2019re still making progress to the river delta and then, once we get there, the plan is to continue scouting that terrain for Perseverance, which is going to be in that region for some time on a science campaign.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n